Hal McCoy of the Dayton Daily News had the following to say in a recent Q&A:Q “I know you’re a Hall of Famer, but I have you scooped on this one. Since the Reds are designated for the scrap heap they will put Harangatang and A-yo-yo on the trading block. Agree?” — Roger, Louisville, Ky.A “If you tell me to which team and for which players I’ll give you full credit. I assume Harangatang is Aaron Harang and A-yo-yo is Bronson Arroyo? If the Reds nose dive before the July 31 trade deadline it wouldn’t surprise me if one of those is traded for prospects. Harang, Mr. Hard Luck, has struggled to win for two years and Arroyo, indeed, is a yo-yo — up and down, up and down. He, too, could go for good prospects.”
Prior to Roy Halladay’s name surfacing in trade circles, I had mentioned many times that I feel Harang would be a great fit for the Phillies. He already pitches in a bandbox, eats innings like it’s nobody’s business, and has posted incredible numbers considering his home park. Is he Halladay, no, but if he becomes available then he’s not a bad second option. In addition, adding another front line starter to the trade block could only strengthen the Phils’ position in dealing for Halladay. The more guys that become available, the lower the asking price. Basic rules of supply and demand.

Adam Rubin of The NY Daily News has spoken to a source that claims the New York Mets are going to release righthander Tim Redding. Though Redding has been atrocious this year (7.22 ERA), the Phils should sign him to a minor league deal just so they don’t have to face him. Over the past two years, between Washington and New York, Redding has started 6 games against the Phils, going 35 innings with a 2.50 ERA. That includes last year’s opener at Citizen’s Bank Park in which Redding threw 7 shutout innings giving up just 1 hit.

According to Ken Rosenthal, the Brewers may be a dark horse in the Roy Halladay sweepstakes. The Blue Jays apparently have a giant man crush on shortstop prospect Alcides Escobar but likely don’t have the pitching prospects to complete the deal. Another hurdle is that Halladay may not be willing to accept a trade to Milwaukee.

Rosenthal also says that Dodgers manager Joe Torre has “made it clear he wants Roy Halladay.” The problems is that the Jays are insisting on Clayton Kershaw and that is simply not going to happen.

I write this to the lovely people of Milwaukee. The same people who created Schlitz, Old Milwaukee, Miller Lite and other cheap skunky beers that we stop drinking upon our college graduations. The same people who are likely neighbors with the Commissioner of Baseball and Lavergne and Shirley. “Shameel, Shamozzle, The Brewers Playoff Hopes Have been deflated!”

I write this to notify you that the Brewers season will be over Saturday (maybe Sunday if you prefer a slow painful death). When your savior, C.C. Sabathia, gives up five runs in one inning and looks like an obese person in the first half-mile of a marathon, you know you are done.

Maybe it was a bad idea for Dale Sveum to keep pitching Sabathia on three days rest over the last two weeks of the season. Maybe it was a bad idea for Brewers batters to frequently treat Sabathia starts as paid vacation. Maybe trading for him was a bad idea since he only GOT you into the playoffs but NOT into the NLCS or the World Series. Oh, wait, he didn’t get you in, the Marlins did.

Maybe it’s just my 20/20 vision, but it seems that once Vittorino hit that home run in the 2nd inning the Brewers just gave up. Yeah, they had runners in scoring position after thant, but that five run 2nd inning really took the wind out of their sails.

The only question remaining in Milwaukee…….When do the Bucks begin their run at last place?

A four game sweep by the Philadelphia Phillies has prompted the Milwaukee Brewers to dismiss manager Ned Yost with just 12 games remaining in the regular season! Despite the Brewers’ success this season, Yost faced heavy criticism throughout the course of the year. Read the rest of this entry »

The baseball season is winding down and talk is brewing on who should win the CY Young, MVP, Manager of the Year, Comeback Player of the Year, all that good stuff. You look at the NL Cy Young and you figure it’s gotta be Brandon Webb- a guy who started the year with win after win and has been very solid all year despite the Diamondbacks inconsistency. Webb probably only needs 2 pitches to get by because of his powerful sinker, but he throws in a few others just to fool hitters a little more. Could you imagine if the D-backs were good all year? Webb could have 21 wins by now and with that many it would rule out anyone else from Cy Young candidacy. But as it turns out, your team performance somewhat affects individual achievement awards. Read the rest of this entry »